I'm running oracle version 10.2.0.4. I have a select statement to access a table but part of the select statement invokes the getClob() method. The select statement fails when it reaches the getClob(). When I remove the getClob() method it succeeds! What permission is required that would allow a user to call this method?

The getclob is a method of a type. If the column is an Xmltype, or some other complex type containing the getclob method then it should work. If it is just a varchar2 it will fail. So it's not a permission thing. It's a data type thing.